Weasel Coffee in Hanoi Vietnam

Trying the Weasel Coffee in Hanoi, Vietnam is one of the most anticipated thing I was looking forward to on visiting this amazing country. Having heard about this famous exclusive coffee, I was yearning to try it at all costs.

So right before my trip to Hanoi in April 2010, I had Googled the coffee locations only to find out that there were originals and also the knockoffs being sold. Arriving in Hanoi after a fabulous trip to Halong Bay, I set foot on the streets of the Old Quarter and made my way in search of the famous Cafe Mai where the Weasel Coffee was sold.

Thinking that the cafe would be easy to find around the Old Quarter of Hanoi, I was disappointed that no one seemed to know of this place. Walking around aimlessly and asking locals every ten minutes, I was replied with shakes of the head or simply being ignored due to the language factor. Nevertheless my journey continued with my google printout and town map in hand.

Weasel Coffee in a grinding machine in Hanoi

Finally after walking out of the Old Quarter and into an unknown area near a lake, a kind Vietnamese lady who spoke very little English showed me directions to the shop which was a couple of blocks down.

Eagerly walking in the hot afternoon, I accidentally passed the coffee outlet and wondered where it really was as there were a few other cafes along this street.

I finally made one more stop and asked one of them where the Cafe Mai was, the gentleman pointed to a few shops in the opposite direction without saying a word.

Cafe Mai

Finally, I had reach my Mecca of Coffee which was highly recommended by some local Vietnamese blog writers. This particular type of coffee is also known to the locals as Paris Mai and is noted to be the most expensive coffee in Vietnam.

So, what is Weasel Coffee? This exotic blend of coffee beans is eaten by the local civet cats where they are then passed through the digestive system. It is also known as Kopi Luwak or Civet Cat Coffee in other parts of the world.

Weasel Coffee Beans in Hanoi, Vietnam

"A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape.

After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world." - From Wikipedia

Weasel coffee after the process

Having secured a place at the Cafe Mai, I choose to sit at one of the small round tables just by the walkway. It was really humid that day so I ordered a iced cold coke to start.

A simple menu was given to me and glancing through it, there were apparently a number of coffee choices to choose from. Strangely there was no indication of Weasel Coffee on the menu so I got a little worried and called the waitress over.

She did not speak much English but when I tried to ask her about the Weasel Coffee she looked confused and instead called the owner over which was a Vietnamese lady in her mid thirties who spoke basic English.

Finally she understood what I described and told me that it was called Paris Mai in Vietnam and without hesitation, I had ordered two of them. One hot and one with ice.

Vietnamese Coffee with Ice

When the coffee was served, it came in one of those small metal Vietnamese drip filters known locally as cà phê phin where the freshly grounded coffee is contained inside and hot water is poured into the device and then covered.

The filtering process can take up to five minutes before it is ready to be consumed. Condensed milk is also served added to the bottom of the glass before you start your process. Once done, you simply stir it all in and you have your expensive cup of Vietnamese Weasel Coffee.

I had ordered an iced one so it was served all ready and the two flavours were almost identical. For the coffee lovers, you would enjoy this hot as for me, I love to have iced cold coffee and this was heaven for me.

After spending about an hour here trying out three different coffees, it was time to take away some of the Weasel Coffee. A price board was seen with the various coffee grades and prices in kilograms.

Paris Mai costs 600,000 Vietnamese Dong per kilogram which is about US$30.70 so this is really cheap considering I was told that the Weasel Coffee can go up to the hundreds of US dollars.

Apart from the exotic coffee being sold here, there were a variety of other blends as well. Seems like some of the locals love to buy their coffee fresh by the 100 gram packets from these cafes.

They were seen arriving by cars and bikes to get freshly grounded coffee from the special take away counter of the Cafe Mai.

Local Vietnamese coffee in tin storage

Cafe Mai in Hanoi

I ended up buying 500 grams of the Weasel Coffee from Hanoi and in 100 gram packets each. They were for souvenirs for close friends and the end result - They all asked me when I was returning to Hanoi as they now wanted 1kg packets!

Dak-Linh CaféThis nice café is located on the southwest short of Hoan Kiem Lake, quite hidden in the trees. It’s probably the best place to start your morning: enjoy your coffee while watching people exercising in the park or doing Tai-Chi.

Trung Nguyen CaféAmong the many coffee varieties offered by this very popular café by the Hoan Kiem Lake, you will also find the famous weasel coffee here apart from the general strong coffee.

Café NhanThe café is located in the heart of the nightlife area and is very popular among young locals. There are nice private nooks for those seeking intimacy and interesting balconies for those who like to do a bit of people watching by night.

Hanoi’s Coffee StreetHang Hanh (Coffee Street) is located in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. It’s a very popular location filled with cafes and everyone looking for their caffeine fix: businessmen on their way to work, backpackers reading the travel guides in search of new ideas and the motorbikes’ drivers looking for clients.

The best experience is to sit on one of the really low stools and enjoy your coffee watching life pass by. Again, do check if you are getting the right coffee from this area as there have been reports of normal coffee being passed off as Weasel Coffee here.

You can also read about my other articles on Hanoi and Vietnam as I have written much about these places. They are written in 2012 to 2013, based on the time I explored this part of Indochina.

The coffee culture is one of the local lifestyle here as there are countless places selling them around the Old Quarter and around Hanoi in general. I was staying at the Impressive Hotel in the Old Quarter area so moving around on foot was very easy for me.

From modern day cafes to roadside squat-down stalls, they all taste really good. The best in my honest opinions are from some of the speciality stalls around the old quarter where you get some really good Weasel Coffee in Hanoi.

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